The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provides the U.S. Department of Energy with $4.5 billion to modernize the electric power grid and implement Title XIII of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. This section provides descriptions and background information for several of the key smart grid programs, studies and activities funded by the Recovery Act.

Demonstration Program

The U.S. Department of Energy is responsible for tracking investments made through the Smart Grid Investment Grant program (SGIG) and Smart Grid Demonstration program (SGDP). The status and characteristics of technology deployed is reported in this section.

The U.S. Department of Energy is analyzing the impacts of the Recovery Act smart grid projects on the electric system and assessing costs, benefits, lessons learned, and best practices. This analysis is an opportunity to inform decision makers about the relative merits of alternative smart grid technologies, tools, and techniques and provide a stronger empirical basis for investments and business cases.

U.S. Department of Energy is working with several Smart Grid Investment Grant award recipients who are conducting special studies to examine acceptance, retention and response of consumers involved in time-based rate programs that include advanced metering infrastructure and customer systems such as in-home displays and programmable communicating thermostats. These studies are an opportunity to advance the electricity industry’s understanding of consumer behavior through the application of statistically rigorous experimental methods.

The U.S. Department of Energy produced a variety of reports and other deliverables based on the information and data gained through the Recovery Act Smart Grid Programs. These reports include analysis, impacts, lessons learned, best practices, analytical tools, and case studies.

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Recovery Act Smart Grid Programs

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OKLAHOMA CITY– Last summer, approximately 3,000 OG&E customers in Norman used the latest smart technology to manage their energy use and potentially lower their bills. In 2011, an additional 3,000 residential and business customers in Norman, as well as Moore and south Oklahoma City will have the same opportunity.

Enrollment now is underway for the second year of OG&E’s Smart Study TOGETHER™ energy efficiency initiative. Study enrollment continues through April 18. To learn more and enroll, customers can visit www.smartstudytogether.com or contact an OG&E Smart Study service representative at 877-898-3834 between 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. on weekdays. “Our customers are vital to the success of Smart Study TOGETHER™, and we’d like to thank those who partnered with us last summer,” Grant said. “We are encouraged by the interim results and want to add customers from Moore and south Oklahoma City so we get an even better picture of what is most helpful.”

Study results indicated smart technology coupled with new pricing plans prompted various levels of reduction in electricity consumption during periods when demand for electricity was at its highest last summer. In addition, nine out of 10 study participants last year saved on their electric bills over what they would have paid on the standard price for electricity used. The results support OG&E’s Positive Energy® goal to delay the need to build new fossil-fueled power generation until at least 2020. “In addition to saving on their bills, participants told us that they like being more aware of their energy use and costs,” said Ken Grant, Managing Director Smart Grid. “They did everything from waiting to wash and dry their clothes until after 7 p.m. on hot summer weekdays, to increasing the temperature a couple of degrees on their air conditioners when they were out of the house in the afternoon or early evening.”

The Smart Study TOGETHER is part of the utility company’s smart grid program. OG&E is in the middle of the three-year comprehensive deployment of smart grid technology across its service territory which includes the installation of smart meters, a secure wireless network and smart equipment on its distribution system to increase reliability and efficiencies and reduce operational expenses. OGE Energy is the parent company of OG&E, a regulated electric utility with more than 782,000 customers in a service area spanning 30,000 square miles in Oklahoma and western Arkansas; and of Enogex, currently with 8,000 miles of pipe, nine processing plants and 24 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity.